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CREATIVE PROBLEMS OF THE ART OF THE CAMERA-MAN
Fig. 98. — Ramon Novarro, photograph taken with ' characterising ' lighting.
Fig.
99. — Ramon Novarro, ' standard American photograph.
The invasion of the camera-man's art by such theoretical prerequisites as that of photogenics led to the establishment of standard methods of lighting and optical treatment of the visual image in the bourgeois cinema. If a close-up of a girl is to be taken the camera-man directs all his efforts into emasculating the facial texture, and depriving it of its characteristic and typical features. A fetishised image of a woman is created with a clear light aureole around her head, shining eyes, clearly defined shadows from the long, painted lashes ; a picture reminding one of a mannequin rather than a living human face with the individual features essential to it. A soft-focus lens smooths out all the inequality on the
j face, a soft, diffused frontal light destroys the relief, a strong back light emphasises only the contoural outlines, and as a result we see on the screen ' ideally beautiful '
, close-ups, exact copies of the picture-postcard ' beauties ' beloved of the petty bourgeois.
How strongly the face is modified by such methods of optical treatment is evident from a comparison of the two photographs given in Figs. 98 and 99. The characteristic, naturally energetic face of Ramon Novarro is never shown us
j by the American cinema. Instead of this picture we see a sugary, handsome
youngster, in whose face no individuality, nothing typical and vital is left. This emasculated manikin is as far from the original as the American cinema as a whole is from the realistic reflection of actuality.
In Fig. 100 we give six close-ups from various American films. Even if the spectator attentively studies each of these portraits with care for some minutes, he will not be able to remember a single face, so alike are they to one another. And besides, it is unnecessary that he should. The camera-man's task here has consisted only in manifesting the general prettiness of each girl and emphasising the superficial factors of ' sex appeal ' — the eyes, the lips, the lashes. The spectator has no need of an actress ; he is satisfied with seeing a sexual fetish, in all cases evoking one and the same emotions.
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